DECEMBER 8, 2024 | RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM | TAMPA, FLORIDA

Another Raiders road trip with Colin, this time to Tampa and Raymond James Stadium. The final score didn't go our way, but the experience — and everything Colin somehow managed to come home with — made this one pretty memorable.

Getting Close to the Action

We got to Raymond James Stadium early so Colin could get down near the field and watch the Raiders warm up. Being that close gave him a chance to interact with players and coaches before the game, and it didn't take long for this trip to turn into something special.

A FOOTBALL TO REMEMBER

Getting close to the Raiders before the game paid off in a way Colin definitely wasn't expecting. Rob Ryan spotted him near the front row and handed him a Raiders football.
Colin was absolutely thrilled. We'd gotten some pretty cool souvenirs at Raiders games before, but having a football handed directly to him by a Raiders coach was on another level.
And somehow, that wasn't going to be the only thing he came home with that day.

THE GAME GETS AWAY FROM THE RAIDERS

The Raiders went into halftime with a 14–10 lead, and for a while it looked like we might get to watch them leave Tampa with a win.
But the second half went the other way. Tampa Bay took control, and the Raiders couldn't put together enough offense to answer.
The Buccaneers pulled away for a 28–13 win, dropping the Raiders to 2–11.
The final score wasn't what we wanted, but by that point Colin's day had already become about a whole lot more than the scoreboard.

THE SOUVENIRS KEEP COMING

The football would have been more than enough to make Colin's day, but somehow he wasn't finished.
Several Raiders players stopped near our seats and signed the white shirt Colin had with him. None of the signatures were from players he was especially excited about, and at this point he doesn't even remember exactly who signed it — but it still became another souvenir from an already ridiculous day.
And somehow, we still weren't done.

AND THEN CAME THE TOWEL AND HAT

As the game was winding down, Colin noticed some Raiders gear near the sideline and managed to come away with two more souvenirs — a Gatorade towel and a black-and-white plaid Raiders hat.
At this point, the football, signed shirt, towel and hat were starting to make this one of the craziest souvenir hauls we'd ever had at a Raiders game.

GAME-DAY KEEPSAKES

We try to bring home something from every Raiders game we attend, but Tampa was on another level. Colin came home with the official game-day pin, a Raiders football from Rob Ryan, a signed shirt, a Gatorade towel and a Raiders plaid hat.